TIM HOWARD backed Andrew Johnson to deliver when it really matters and secure Everton's place in the UEFA Cup.

The England international has not found the net since scoring in consecutive games against Sunderland and Fiorentina in March, but will spearhead the Blues’ attack with Ayegbeni Yakubu when Newcastle arrive at Goodison Park this weekend.

And Howard – who can equal Neville Southall’s record of 15 Premier League clean sheets in a season on Sunday – believes Johnson is ready to come good again after enduring a difficult spell.

Johnson was bright during last Sunday’s 1-0 defeat at Arsenal and that has left Howard anticipating a bold show from a man who cost £8.6m when he joined Everton in May 2006.

“We were all encouraged by AJ last weekend,” said Howard. “As good a season as Yak has had for us, you have to look back to last season and the 4-5-1 system we played to remember how threatening AJ was then.

“You know he is always going to run the channels and cause problems and he did that against Arsenal. He is a top striker.

“For this team to go forward, we need AJ. For us to go to the places we want to go, we need Yak and AJ firing on all cylinders.

“We can’t have one without the other if we want to keep progressing and we will need them both at their best against Newcastle.”

Everton need just a point to make certain of securing fifth place in the table but, given they have only won one of the eight games they have played since being knocked out of Europe, Howard says there is a determination to end the season a on high.

Though he is frustrated that qualification was not wrapped up a couple of weeks ago, he is confident there won’t be any last day slip-up.

“With the season we have had and the things we have achieved, it’s hard to take that we have only had one win in eight games,” said Howard.

“It’s easy to look back with hindsight but if we’d taken just one point extra since Fiorentina, we’d be clean through now.

“We are kicking ourselves on the backside at the moment but we were prepared to play the season to a conclusion to get back into Europe and that’s what we are going to have to do now.

“But we have to remember that we have progressed again. In a tougher league than last season, we have got more points and more goals.

“That’s the encouraging part but we aren’t patting ourselves on the back. We are greedy and we want fifth place.”